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Microsoft's latest 'Scroogled' ad attacks Android with privacy fears

Microsoft's latest 'Scroogled' ad attacks Android with privacy fears

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Microsoft's anti-Google campaign is getting a fresh revival this week with a new focus on Google's Android app store. After directly attacking Gmail and Google Shopping, Microsoft is now attempting to spread fear over Google's policy of supplying the name, email address, and neighborhood of users who purchase apps on Google Play. In two fresh videos posted to the Scroogled site, Microsoft attempts to convince users to switch to Bing and Windows Phone over Android.

"If you can't trust their app store, maybe you can't trust them for anything," says a narrator in one particular video, suggesting users try Bing. Another focuses on trying to push Windows Phones. The campaign centers on Google's policy of providing basic information to developers. Some have expressed concern over the practice and argued that Google should disclose that your name, email, and neighborhood is provided to each app developer once you purchase an app.

Scroogled is riskyMicrosoft's Scroogled campaign is risky, and one that the software maker appeared to admit had run its course last month. The fearmongering attack ads are starting to show that the company is desperate for consumers to look to its own products and services over Google. Microsoft's particular focus on Android follows a recent EU antitrust complaint that the company, and others like Nokia and Oracle, filed against Google claiming that Android has been monopolizing the mobile market and controlling consumer data.

It's not immediately clear if Microsoft's anti-Google campaigns are really working. The company's #droidrage Twitter campaign, highlighting Android malware issues, backfired after users created a #windowsrage equivalent. Despite targeting Google's mobile efforts, Microsoft's Windows Phone is still slow to gain market share against iOS and Android. By focusing on Android developers as possible untrustworthy agents, Microsoft risks alienating the very developers it desperately requires to build out its own platforms. Despite this, the continued Scroogled campaigns show this is a risk that Microsoft is willing to take.